The Supreme Court has re-opened the road rage case against Punjab minister, Navjot Singh Sidhu. The court agreed to hear a review filed by the family of the victim who sought a review on the quantum of punishment.
Sidhu had been let off in the case with a fine of Rs 1,000. The earlier order was passed by Justice J Chelameshwar, who retired recently.
On December 27, 1988, Sidhu and his friend Rupinder Singh Sandhu had got into an argument with one Gurnam Singh over parking space in Patiala. The duo allegedly dragged Singh out of his car and hit him. Singh later died. A session’s court acquitted Sidhu and Sandhu in 1999 but the order was quashed by the HC, which convicted them and awarded them a three-year jail term in 2006. The two approached the SC which stayed their conviction.
The Supreme Court concluded that Sandhu was wrongly convicted in the case and acquitted him. However it convicted Sidhu under Section 323 of the Indian Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt.